₦airaland Forum

Who needs a Pope? Certainly not me. The papacy has no impact in my life.

[quote author=Teenage Money]Ash Wednesday is the name given to the firstday of the season of Lent, in which the Pastor applies ashes to the foreheads of Christians to signify an inner repentance. But what is the history and the meaning of this Christian holy day?

Ash Wednesday, originally called dies cinerum (day of ashes) is mentioned in the earliest copies of the Gregorian Sacramentary, and probably dates from at least the 8th Century. One of the earliest descriptions of Ash Wednesday is found in the writings of the Anglo-Saxon abbot Aelfric (955-1020). In his Lives of the Saints, he writes, "We read in the books both in the Old Law and in the New that the men who repented of their sins bestrewed themselves with ashes and clothed their bodies with sackcloth. Now let us do this little at the beginning of our Lent that we strew ashes upon our heads to signify that we ought to repent of our sins during the Lenten fast." Aelfric then proceeds to tell the tale of a man who refused to go to church for the ashes and was accidentally killed several days later in a boar hunt! This quotation confirms what we know from other sources, that throughout the Middle Ages ashes were sprinkled on the head, rather than anointed on the forehead as in our day.


As Aelfric suggests, the pouring of ashes on one's body (and dressing in sackcloth, a very rough material) as an outer manifestation of inner repentance or mourning is an ancient practice. It is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. What is probably the earliestoccurrence is found at the very end of the book of Job. Job, having been rebuked by God, confesses, "Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:6). Other examples are found in 2 Samuel 13:19, Esther 4:1,3, Isaiah 61:3, Jeremiah 6:26, Ezekiel 27:30, and Daniel 9:3. In the New Testament, Jesus alludes to the practice in Matthew 11:21: "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyreand Sidon, they would have repented long agoin sackcloth and ashes."

In the typical Ash Wednesday observance, Christians are invited to the altar to receive the imposition of ashes, prior to receiving the holy Supper. The Pastor applies ashes in the shape of the cross on the forehead of each, while speaking the words, "For dust you are and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19). This is of course what God spoke to Adam and Eve after they eaten of the forbidden fruit and fallen into sin. These words indicated to our first parents the bitterest fruit of their sin, namely death. In the context of the Ash Wednesday impositionof ashes, they remind each penitent of their sinfulness and mortality, and, thus, their need to repent and get right with God beforeit is too late. The cross reminds each penitent of the good news that through Jesus Christ crucified there is forgiveness for all sins, all guilt, and all punishment.


Many Christians choose to leave the ashes ontheir forehead for the remainder of the day, not to be showy and boastful (see Matthew 6:16-18).

Rather, they do it as a witness that all people are sinners in need of repentance AND that through Jesus all sins are forgiven through faith.

Ash Wednesday, like the season of Lent, is never mentioned in Scripture and is not commanded by God. Christians are free to either observe or not observe it.




Ash Wednesday was started by the Roman Church in about 8th Century AD, meaning that Jesus and his disciples set no such precedent and never commanded that we do so. Remember “Law of the Christ” and Christianity started with Jesus and his disciples

One of the earliest descriptions of Ash Wednesday is found in the writings of the Anglo-Saxon abbot Aelfric (955-1020). This means that some fellas trust more in the writings of the Anglo Saxon Abbot Aelfric than God’s Word the Bible.

In his Lives of the Saints, he (Aelfric) writes, "We read in the books both in the Old Law and in the New that the men who repented of their sins bestrewed themselves with ashes and clothed their bodies with sackcloth. True, ancient Israelites used to show symbolic repentance, revulsion, distaste, and disgust over certain matters by ripping their garment, in lamentation, putting on sackcloth, shaving their hair bald, mourning, weeping, wailing in bitterness, fasting and decking their WHOLE BODY with dust and ashes but this was done for specific sins, incidents and situations. It was not a yearly ceremonial ritual. It was not done for accumulated sins. They did not draw any cross on their foreheads, neither was small ash robbed on any part of the body. I have seen Roman adherents dab small ash on their FOREheads but I am waiting to see them rip their garments, cover their bodies with ash, wear sackcloth, shave all their hair, weep, wail and lament for their sins (which by the way are too many to count). It reminds me of the ‘White-Garment Church Goers’ who read in the Bible that God asked Moses to remove his sandal at the foot of Mount Horeb and so they picked that one up and started trekking about town barefeet.

To me this Ash Wednesday is not a Christian requirement and cannot lead anyone to “heaven”, neither can it help anyone gain salvation and eternal life. Just a waste of time.

If you're unemployed, drop your number. There are some vacancies at my work place. With N2000 i can get you a good and high paying job. Qoute my post an drop your number if interested. Thanks

What brings N2,000 into the matter?

I really like point number 2. Acquiring a skill (not hanging on your academic qualification) will help a lot. If you do, sooner than later, you will not only be hired, but it could open doors for you to start your own business.

obicentlis: I Love my Church, The Holy Roman Catholic Church!
I love the Mother of the Church, The Blessed Mary, Ever Virgin!
I love Jesus, The Only true Son of God!
I love the Holy Spirit, the Teacher!
I love the Abba Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth.

You guys cannot stop amusing us here. So the Roman Church is now "Holy"? Eeehn! Alright. And Mary who had many children after Jesus is still a virgin to you. Hmn! She is also no longer the "Mother of God" but now the "Mother of the Church". I see! And Jesus has been confirmed as "The Only true Son of God", not "God The Son" anymore. Well we are learning. And Holy Spirit is "Mr Teacher". Ok o! And after talking about all the "important persons", you 'kindly' and 'wisely' remembered "Abba Father". You dey try for your "holy" church. More grease to your elbows.

Hammer House of Horror

Up Naija!

Johnchike: you're entitled to your opinion. Silly goat!

I know say you go vex, after you don hear the truth and truth they say is bitter

1• Sir Tim Berners Lee – World Wide Web
2• Vint Cerf And Bob Kahn –TCP/IP
3• Larry Page and Sergey Brin – Google Inc.
4• David Filo and Jerry Yang – Yahoo! Inc.
5• Bill Gates – Microsoft
6• Steven Paul Jobs – Apple Inc.
7• Mark Zuckerberg – Facebook
8• Chad Hurley and Steve Chen – YouTube
9• Linus Torvalds – Linux
10• Jack Dorsey – Twitter
11• Kevin Rose – Digg
12• Bram Cohen – Bit Torrent
13• Mike Morhaime – Blizzard Entertainment
14• Jimmy Wales – Wikipedia
15• Jeff Preston Bezos – Amazon
16• Shawn Fanning – Napster, Rupture
17• Pierre Omidyar – eBay
18• Jack Ma – Alibaba
19• Craig Newmark – Craigslist
20• Matt Mullenweg – WordPress
21• Thomas Anderson – MySpace
22• Garrett Camp – Stumble Upon
23• Jon Postel – Internet Pioneer
24• Caterina Fake – Flickr
25• Marc Andreessen – Netscape

Where is my onyokometer? I can't find our own wizkid, Philip Emeagwali. Can someone help?

50calibre: Women don't hear, they love to be treated badly. I can't believe that rihanna would even contemplate getting back with a guy who didn't just beat her, but beat her savagely like a common criminal.

Some women deserve what they get.

You will not understand! There's something she gets from Chris that no other man has given her. Kill her or maim her, she will still go back for her drug fix, you know, just like cocaine addiction. U no understand?

Symphony007: Some of this pics as funny as they seem are misleading, please the poster should mention the city or town this office is, don't make it seem like this is the reality of every phcn office in nigeria cause i've seem magnificent once.

The picture is in no way misleading. Maybe it is only PHCN head office you know. Go round and check other local/area offices and you'll eat your words. That's the way we are. Remember Ikeja Police College!

shadrach77: this picture is obviously photoshopped. For a start, PHCN would never use such a building for its office. Secondly, the signpost doesn't look real. It's obvious that it has been added to the original picture

Na im be say you never go NEPA office before. I remember the NEPA office in Mende. I have on many occassions helped them to start their gen which has also started behaving like NEPA. I used to yab their cashiers a lot because of this. I also know their office in Adeniyi Jones and Anifowoshe where NEPA equally 'takes light' and they put gen to power their computer and collect bills. Infact, if you go there when there is power/gen failure, you will be asked to return another day to make payment. As I see it, no NEPA office can carry on business without a standby generator

Chinom: Over 35% of child molesters are women. We only get to hear about the men because the society does not want to accept, nor see women as pedophiles. Many women are known to abuse young girls in particular. That's why we have the lesbian explosion in Nigeria.

You are quite correct. Many cases of molestation involving women are seen as nothing to worry about but the female folks have corrupted and ruined many. My first sexual experience were with "Aunties" and much older ladies who used me to quench their urge. I was barely 12 at the time. It didn't happen once or twice but severally before I reached puberty.

If you check through the cyberspace, you will see several cases of recorded female sexual abusers. It's high time we start applying the same rules to all abusers.

Shayo Father, Ginger Mother, Swagger Baby!

@ OP, you are 100% correct. I cannot blame you for anything because you reproved a mad man. Some people believe that once you start shouting Jesus, Jesus, Jesus then you are right at all times. A sane and concentrating driver dived into the Lagos Lagoon a few days ago. Imagine what can happen to a distracted driver-preacher. Can one serve to masters at the same time? Can you scale/jump a bar with two legs? Can you put your hand in a plough while looking back? Can you "preach" while working on a Lathe machine? You will be certain to lose your arms and limbs. Preaching is commendable but must be done in a reasonable way. We cannot all be mad at the same time.

Israel
Nichodemus
Badmus
Mathias
Morris
Matilda
Magaret/Maggi

At different times

Jango Searchman: After movie character

Last Born: Last Born; not really the last of my parents at the time but I am now by circumstance

Patman: Because I used to think and act beyond my age

Come to think of it, Umuekwune is just a few kilometers from Aluu.

In my own time, we used to wake up and see the "shit" in the WC grow like a small mountain For you to use the toilet, you will have to climb the WC . Some days, it is even worse. On such bad days, you will have to use the Porters' pestle to pound/push 'the poo mountain' down the pipe before you could climb and ease yourself. You need to see the faces of the porters when they are cleaning the area. Their expression conveys an un-uttered "I hate this job" or "I hate these rich men children messing up the whole place" etc . I used to feel for them because they must literally push those mountains of human waste down the drain each day. And to compound the situation, water does not run all the time. My school is a federal university too.

I weep for this country. Even our president cannot intervene. In saner countries, the handling of this event alone can make people lose elections. Heads would have rolled in certain government departments and jobs would have been lost. Law enforcement position holders would have resigned since they could not come up with an answer. Not in Nigeria. Anything goes and everything is normal. Next story please.

karl max: It was postponed not suspended are some of us this daft? Maxymilliano just gave one of the reason it was postponed and channels just announced it

ARE YOU A LEARNER? NA TODAY WE DEY THIS NAIJA? YOU MEAN YOU CANNOT READ THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL? THEN YOU MUST BE A LEARNER.

shiftbutton: Are u serious? are u new to Nigerian politics? postponed in this case effectively means cancelled or a more doctored one dressed and attended only by special invitation direct from Ruben or even anuty Pepe.

Be wise Boss.

Na your papa born you jare! You know Naija wella wella.

991: nice write up, the below got me thinking..
Male mosquitoes do not bite, only female mosquito bites.

Even human female "mosquitoes" do virtually the same thing. Call them witches or bitches it's all the same thing; my wife and sisters excluded!

The scenes are very real! But the thing about animals is that a day will come when they don't want to play. On such a bad day, the "friend" will become an easy appetizer. It has happened many times with lions and their trainers, crocodiles and performers, snakes and snake-keepers, even Rottweiler dogs have been recorded while making snacks out of their owner's babies. It is always better to take precaution while dealing with WILD or "Tamed" animals.

I remember this rodent. Most of them live in the village toilet. You will spend resources building your pit toilet and they will wreck it while tunneling to get access to your poo. It is sweet though, like fish, dog and other animals that eat shit.

When did the love affair start?

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